Summary
- Bel North America’s new CEO Peter McGuinness is betting on brand energy, distribution and innovation to accelerate growth in the US market.
- From ‘unleashing the cow’ to turning Babybel into ‘the Mighty Bel’, the focus is on cultural relevance, foodservice and new eating occasions.
- With strong momentum behind brands like Babybel and Boursin, Bel sees significant headroom to expand penetration and scale across North America.
“The cow has been quiet. So we’re going to unleash the cow.” That, in miniature, is the story of how Bel North America’s new CEO is planning to reinvigorate the French multi-national’s ‘sleepy’ brands in one of its most important markets.
Before diving deeper – a quick trip down memory lane.
If there was a pantheon of cheese, The Laughing Cow is sure to have its place there. Introduced in France more than 100 years ago, The Laughing Cow became the first individually-portioned soft cheese to land in retail: each piece precision-cut into a small triangle, foil-wrapped, and pocketable. That innovation happened in 1921; and the rest, as they say, is history.
Today, Bel is a known entity in global snacking and its brands, including Babybel, Boursin, Kiri and The Laughing Cow, are sold in more than 120 countries. For a company that started as a family company specialising in Comté trade, the scale proves longevity and a particular kind of ambition: where heritage and innovation can freely coexist.
But while Bel is an undisputed household name in its native France, more can be done to sharpen the company’s image across the pond.
Revitalising Bel’s brands in North America
That would be the aim of Peter McGuinness, who recently took over as CEO of the division. An experienced advertising and CPG heavyweight, his ambition is to elevate Bel’s brands into cultural relevance.
McGuinness has been instrumental in turning challenger brands – notably, Chobani and Impossible Foods – into established industry players in their respective industries. At Bel North America, he’s been tasked with accelerating growth through M&A, product innovation, and brand power.
Speaking to us on a Wednesday morning from Bel’s office in New York City, he said he’d like to see the division double its size in five years – with growth achieved through expanded distribution, including more aggressive out-of-home strategy, acquisitions, and a branding push designed to embed the likes of Babybel and The Laughing Cow into the American psyche.
The foundations are solid: the US is Bel’s largest market in sales terms, comprising a third of its group sales; and North America’s organic sales grew 4.9% in the past year, with Boursin and Babybel in double-digit growth – so much so that the company invested $350m to expand its Babybel factory in Brookings, South Dakota.
Ultimately, reaching more consumers is where the game is at.
Scaling presence across the US
“North America is a huge market,” McGuinness said. “The US is a massive market. And on face value, I think Bel has done a really, really good job. But when you look at the power and potential of our platforms, our products, being on-trend, having tailwinds, I actually think we’re a little underpenetrated.
“It’s nobody’s fault – the business really hadn’t focused on it.”
That’s changing now – and the first step is improving the brands’ visibility and presence in foodservice. That job is as much about improving distribution as it is brand-building, McGuinness said.
“When I look at household penetration and PDPs and ACV, there’s opportunity for more distribution. When I look at our out-of-home business, there’s a lot of room. I think [Babybel] deserves to be on more trains and planes. I would love to have a Babybel, a Laughing Cow or a GoGo squeeZ on a plane. Get some electrolytes, get some protein. So there are so many opportunities to be in more places and show up in more occasions.”
It’s as much distribution as it is brand-building and marketing, he added.
“These are captive eating moments. If I’m on vacation and I come down for [my hotel] breakfast and The Laughing Cow shows up on my bagel, it would bring me joy. These are consumer moments where our products can be consumed and delight.”
Taking Bel’s European icons mainstream
Distribution aside, product innovation is another acute focus for the new CEO.
“We have a pretty robust pipeline of innovation on The Laughing Cow, Babybel, and GoGo squeeZ,” he said. “You can innovate within those platforms – line-extend, upside packaging and multipacks, all sorts of price‑pack architecture, and flavour extensions.
“But then we have some ideas for some pretty breakthrough innovation within the platforms that could make those brands even more exciting and open up more dayparts and more eating occasions.”
Also, more age groups: GoGo squeeZ is an example of how a kid-friendly food pouch was ‘aged up’ into a teen and athlete-friendly electrolyte snack. “You’re going to see more options come out under GoGo squeeZ too – and maybe even a dairy option,” McGuinness said.
In terms of marketing, the task is to reinvigorate some of the brands in North America. “As I look at the US, the brands aren’t as active and vibrant as they are in Europe,” he said. “The Laughing Cow in France ‘runs for president’ – it’s part of pop culture there. The cow’s in the Louvre; Babybel is everywhere. I want to bring some of that energy and some of that magic to the brands here. I think they are just a little sleepy.”
That may be the case for some, but not all brands. Boursin is ‘on fire’, McGuinness said. “It’s high double-digit growth, and it’s really having a moment. So on that one, it’s: how do we keep up with the growth, make sure the supply chain is there, continue to flavor-innovate, upside packaging. We’re all in on accelerating and amplifying Boursin.
“On The Laughing Cow, it’s ‘unleash the cow’. It needs to be part of popular culture. It needs to be a little irreverent, a little cheeky; weigh in on things, comment on things in the world.
“The cow has been quiet. So we are going to unleash the cow.”
Babybel – which, with its double-digit growth in the US, is anything but taking baby steps – is set to be transformed into ‘the Mighty Bel’.
And some of that activation is already happening – by leveraging the cheese’s unique packaging.
“It’s this huge wax ritual, and people are obsessed with it,” McGuinness said. “I was coming back from French Canada, and the immigration officer said, ‘Bel? You mean, that little cheese in the red wax?’ He had a smile on his face; said: ‘My son eats that all the time, and he keeps the wax and created a soccer ball.’
“So the wax is a thing. What can we do with the wax itself? We did a marketing campaign called Mini Wax Tracks, where we made albums out of the wax and DJs played music on it.”
Another question is, how ‘mighty’ can that brand be? “I think you can go beyond traditional cheese in the wax. We can open up to many, many dayparts.”
The plan is to inject excitement but also dial in functionality – and perhaps, branch into a new category. “I want [The Laughing Cow] to be America’s cheeky dairy brand,” he said. “Why couldn’t it have ice cream? I’m just throwing that out there.”
That’s an example of how these brands can stretch, he added, noting that ice cream is a consideration rather than a firm strategic direction.
“Novelty ice cream is something I’ve seen done around the world, and I think it’s quite interesting,” McGuinness said. “But I have a hundred other things to do prior to that. My point is, it could go there. It’s a dairy brand. I’m not saying I am literally going to go do that, but it would be in the consideration set.”
For now, it’s about dialling up the fun – and making the most of the healthy snacking tailwinds.
“I think healthy, better-for-you snacking will continue to grow at a very high pace,” he said. “You’re going to see a lot of innovation in the space: combining fruit, veg, dairy, different formats, occasions. So I’m happy with where we are, with our footprint.
“Where I’d like to see us in five years? North America, double the size.”
